The Aviation Heritage Park hosts grand opening of museum

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - The Aviation Heritage Park broke ground for its museum in 2018 and it is now open to the public.

Saturday, Sept. 23, the Aviation Heritage Park Museum held its grand opening. After a few remarks from aviators being recognized at the museum, visitors were welcomed inside to see what phase one of the museum brought to their community.

After five years of hard work and preparation, it was finally revealed to the public. The interior decorating alone had taken the last three weeks. None of it would have been possible without the support of the community.

“The people of Bowling Green, the community, the government, have really believed in this project all along,” said Museum Executive Director Bob Bubnis. “When they hired me in, I thought, if the team really wants to, we can put together something pretty good in 3 weeks. They have spent years gathering artifacts and pulling these stories together.”

The museum houses over a half dozen historical aircrafts, some to do with the Air Force and some to do with NASA, along with cases full of aviator memorabilia. That’s all just for phase one and they don’t plan on stopping there.

“In the next phases you’ll see the interactives become active,” said Bubnis. “Where people begin to immerse themselves in the stories. These are going to be set up in a way where, if you’re an adult, you can find content for you, but if you’re younger you’ll find content as well. The whole idea is to inspire young people.”

The museum is also planning to add resources for those interested in learning about flying, including two FAA flight simulators.

“People that need to get some hours in can log their hours, people who need to knock the rust off before they get in an actual plane again can use it as well. There’s a space here in the museum that is still to come,” Bubnis said. “We’re working with educational professionals to put together the best kind of programming you can for homeschoolers and school groups to come through to learn more about aviation.”

The museum is located at Basil Griffin Park. Visitors can purchase tours of the museum, but general admission and parking is free for all. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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